Almond Apricot Tart With Whipped Cream Recipes

Steps:

• Make the crust: Pulse flour andalmonds in a food processor untilground. Beat butter and confectioners'sugar with a mixer onmedium speed until pale and fluffy,about 5 minutes. Add flour mixture,yolk, and a pinch of salt;mix until dough comes together.Press into bottom and up sides ofa 9-inch tart pan with a removablebottom; refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Make thefilling: Heat butter in a saucepanover medium-high heat untilbrowned, 3 to 4 minutes. Let coolfor 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, beat yolks, corn syrup,and brown sugar with a mixeron medium speed until pale andfluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix inbrowned butter (with bits), amaretto,cream, and vanilla. (Mixtureshould be thick but pourable.)
• Transfer tart shell onto a bakingsheet. Pour in filling to reachhalfway up side. Bake until crustis golden brown and crisp andcenter is set but slightly soft, 40to 45 minutes. Let cool.
• Make the topping: Working in a circle and pressing into filling, top tart with apricots. Garnish with confectioners' sugar. Whisk cream with a mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Serve tart topped with whipped cream.

Steps:

• Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Liberally butter the tart pan.
• For the crust: Combine the all-purpose flour, almond flour, almonds, cocoa powder and sugar in a food processor. Process until the almonds are finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture forms a coarse meal. With the processor running, gradually add 2 tablespoons of iced water until the mixture forms a ball, adding extra water, as needed, if the mixture is too dry. Form the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
• Roll out the dough into a 10-inch circle on a lightly floured work surface. Place the dough in the tart pan and trim any excess dough from the top of the pan. If the dough cracks, press scraps of dough into the cracks to seal. Prick the dough all over, using a fork, and bake for 15 minutes. Let the crust cool for 15 minutes.
• For the filling: Place the chocolate and butter in a small bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Beat the eggs, liqueur, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl. Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake until the filing has set and begins to crack slightly on top, 22 to 25 minutes. Allow the tart to cool completely, about 1 hour.
• For the apricot cream: Beat the cream at high speed until stiff peaks form, using a hand mixer. Add the jam and vanilla. Beat until the jam is incorporated into the cream.
• Remove the tart from the pan and cut into thin wedges. Serve with a dollop of apricot cream.

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Pulse almonds, flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until almonds are very finely chopped. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Add yolk and extracts and pulse just until mixture begins to clump.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice with a forward motion to distribute fat. Gather dough together into a ball with scraper and transfer to tart pan. Pat dough with floured fingers into tart pan in an even 1/4-inch-thick layer, including side (side should be flush with top of rim). Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Make filling while dough chills:
• Toss apricots with Amaretto and 1/4 cup sugar, then let macerate until juicy, at least 1 hour.
• Whisk together preserves, whole egg, yolk, cream, almond extract, a pinch of salt, and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in another bowl until combined. Chill, covered, until ready to use.
• Bake tart shell:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until side is set and edge is pale golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until bottom is pale golden, 5 to 7 minutes more. Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 15 minutes.
• Fill and bake tart:
• Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
• Lift apricots from liquid with a slotted spoon and arrange, skin sides down, in tart shell. Whisk remaining apricot liquid into egg mixture, then pour over apricots(fruit will poke through filling). Cover edge of tart shell with a pie shield or foil and bake tart until filling is set and slightly puffed, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool tart completely in pan on rack.

Steps:

• Make filling: Place a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl. In a medium saucepan, off heat, whisk together cornstarch and egg yolks. Whisk in milk and honey until cornstarch is dissolved. Whisking constantly, cook over medium until the first large bubble sputters. Reduce heat to low; cook, whisking, 1 minute. Remove from heat; immediately pour through sieve into bowl. Press plastic wrap on surface of pudding; refrigerate 3 hours (or up to 3 days).
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt, and butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed (if needed, add up to 2 tablespoons ice water). Do not overmix.
• Press dough evenly into a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan, starting with the sides. Freeze until firm, 15 to 20 minutes. Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake until golden, pressing down with a spoon if the tart shell puffs, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely. (To store, keep at room temperature, up to 1 day.)
• Whisk chilled pudding until smooth; spread in cooled tart shell, and top with apricots. In a small saucepan, heat jam over medium-low until liquefied; gently brush apricots with jam. Refrigerate tart in pan 1 hour (or up to 3 hours); unmold just before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla on high speed until thick and lemon-colored. Combine flour, almonds, baking powder and salt; gradually fold into egg mixture alternately with the whipped cream., Transfer to two greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake 22-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and salt until smooth. Beat in extract. Fold in whipped cream., Cut each cake horizontally into two layers. Place bottom layer on a serving plate; spread with 1 cup frosting. Top with another cake layer; spread with half the preserves. Repeat layers. Frost sides of cake; decorate the top edge with remaining frosting. Sprinkle with almonds.

Steps:

• Place apricots and whisky in a saucepan, bring to a simmer and set aside. Turn apricots in warm whisky from time to time while continuing with preparation.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine flour, 1/4 cup ground almonds, salt and granulated sugar in a bowl or food processor. Whisk to combine. By hand or machine, add butter, pulsing or using a pastry blender to make a crumbly mixture. Beat egg yolk with 4 tablespoons cold water and add, mixing or pulsing until ingredients come together to form a dough. Add a little more water as needed.
• Shape pastry into a flattened disk on a floured surface and roll to fit a 9-inch straight-sided tart pan. Prick the bottom. Line with foil and pastry weights and bake 10 minutes. Remove foil and weights and bake 10 minutes more, until lightly golden. Remove from oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
• Drain apricots, reserving any whisky. Tightly line pastry shell with apricots. Whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup ground almonds and confectioners' sugar in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk mascarpone until smooth. Beat 2 remaining eggs and add to mascarpone along with reserved whisky and almond extract. Mix into combined almonds and confectioners' sugar. Pour over apricots in pastry shell.
• Place tart in oven and bake 20 minutes. Sprinkle sliced almonds around the outside edge of the tart filling to form a border about an inch wide. Return to oven and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the filling is puffed and lightly browned. Remove from oven, place on a rack and let cool to room temperature before serving.

Steps:

• To make the pastry: in the bowl of a food processor, combine the butter, flour and salt. Pulse until the mixture resembles very fine bread crumbs. Add the confectioners' sugar, egg yolk and 2 tablespoons chilled water, and pulse a few times to bring the mixture together. Pour onto a work surface and knead the dough sparingly until smooth, being careful not to overwork it. Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
• To make the frangipane: In a food processor, grind the almonds to a fine powder. Transfer to a bowl. In the food processor, combine 1 cup brown sugar, butter, and vanilla pulp. Process until light and fluffy, then with motor running add the flour and the eggs. Add the ground almonds and pulse to mix evenly. Set aside at room temperature or refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Bring to room temperature and stir before using.
• To assemble: Lightly flour a cool work surface and roll the pastry into a large disk about 1/4-inch thick. Press into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable base and trim the edge. Chill at least 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees with a large baking sheet on the middle rack. Spread frangipane in the chilled tart pan, and nestle the apricot halves evenly on top, cut sides up. Sprinkle each half with about 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar. Place the tart on the baking sheet and bake until golden, and set, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. If the top appears to be browning too fast, cover loosely with foil.
• Trim any baked overflow to loosen the edge of the tart. Press up the bottom of the pan to loosen the sides and cool the tart in the pan on a wire rack. When completely cool, serve with crème fraîche or whipped cream.

Steps:

• To make dough, in the bowl of a food processor, pulse flour, granulated sugar, and orange zest together until just blended.
• Scatter butter over flour mixture and pulse until mixture has the consistency of cornmeal.
• While pulsing, pour egg white through feed tube.
• Process until dough forms a ball.
• Transfer to a lightly floured surface and, with the heel of your hand, press dough together until it is smooth and cohesive.
• Position rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 350° degrees F.
• Have a 12-well mini-tart plaque nearby.
• Use 1 level tablespoon of dough for each tartlet.
• Roll dough between your palms to form a smooth ball.
• With index finger, press center of dough ball into well, then press dough up the sides to distribute evenly.
• To make almond filling, in the bowl of a food processor, pulse almond paste, butter, confectioners' sugar, egg, egg yolk, vanilla and orange zest together until smooth.
• Spoon about 2 level tablespoons of filling into each shell.
• (I just use a heaping tablespoon) Then spoon about 1/2 teaspoon apricot preserves in the center of each filled tartlet.
• Bake until filling and edges of crusts are golden, 22-25 minutes.
• Transfer plaque to a wire rack and cool about 10 minutes, then remove tartlets and place on rack to cool completely.
• Repeat with remaining dough, filling and preserves.
• Before serving sprinkle tartlets with confectioners sugar.

Steps:

• Sift the flour into a large bowl.
• Add the butter and rub in until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
• Stir in the sugar, then mix in the egg to make a soft, pliable dough.
• Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
• Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface and use to line the tart pan.
• Prebake with the weights in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes,until the pastry shell is beginning to brown at the edge.
• Remove the weights and foil and bake for 5-10 minutes.
• Leave to cool.
• Put the apricots, cut side down, in a shallow pan with the lemon juice, water, and sugar.
• Cover tightly and bring to a boil.
• Lower the heat and simmer gently for 3 minutes or until just soft.
• Remove the apricots with a slotted spoon, reserving the juices.
• Drain on paper towels, and leave to cool.
• Remove the pastry shell from the tart pan and put on a serving plate.
• Spread the pastry cream over the pastry shell and smooth the surface.
• Arrange the apricots, cut side down, on the pastry cream.
• Combine the arrowroot (or cornstarch) and brandy (or almond extract) in a small bowl and stir in the reserved apricot juices.
• Return the mixture to the pan and bring to a boil, stirring until thick.
• Add the toasted slivered almonds.
• Spoon the glaze over the apricots,making sure they are coated evenly. (Add a little water to the glaze of it is too thick.)
• Leave to stand until the glaze has cooled and set.
• Serve the tart cold.
• Pastry Cream: Put the 3 eggs, 3/8 cup vanilla sugar, and 1/2 cup flour into a large bowl, add a little milk taken from 1 2/3 cup, and mix until smooth.
• Pour the remaining milk into a heavy saucepan and bring almost to a boil.
• Pour onto the egg mixture, whisking well.
• Rinse out the saucepan, return the egg mixture to the pan, and cook over low heat, stirring, for 15-20 minutes until thickened.
• Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, gently pressing it over the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming.
• Leave to cool.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour and confectioners' sugar; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg yolk and water; stir until dough forms a ball. Roll into twenty-four 1-in. balls. Press onto the bottoms and up the sides of greased miniature muffin cups., In a small bowl, beat almond paste and butter until blended; beat in egg white and almond extract. Spoon into tart shells, about 2 teaspoons in each., Bake at 350° until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Top with apricot preserves.